Dorgan Bill A Response To Northwest Flight 188

The chair of the Senate Transportation Aviation Subcommittee says he is working on a bill that would ban all personal electronic devices in airliner cockpits. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) says the bill is intended to prevent another incident like the one that occurred on Northwest Flight 188, which traveled about 150 miles beyond its intended destination. The pilots told the NTSB that they did not respond to repeated attempts at contact because they were distracted by using their laptops and a discussion of company policy.

Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND)

Dorgan said he intends to introduce the bill in about a week. In an interview with the Associated Press, he said he was surprised to learn that the FAA does not specifically ban the use of laptops, MP3 and DVD players, and other personal electronic devices by airline pilots. "We now understand from this flight at least that this can happen and there ought to be a more clear understanding by everyone in the cockpit that there is a national standard that would prohibit this and that they need to take it seriously," said Dorgan.

Dorgan said his bill would include and exception for "electronic flight bags."

Dorgan says he expects his bill to be folded into a larger aviation bill already pending before the senate later in the session. He said he expects no opposition to the measure. A similar measure is being crafted by Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), and other Senators have expressed support for the bill.

FMI: http://commerce.senate.gov/public/